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Mesa suddenly lost volume

09-22-2010, 07:47 PM

I was wailing away last night with the band, and suddenly my amp went to a pretty low volume. I could still hear it, but it was much lower than it should have been, and had a harsh sound to it (although I have pretty heavy overdrive. Not smooth drive. Almost staticky harsh).

I tried different cables, same. Wound up playing on a different amp.

The tubes are fairly new. Like a year, maybe not even. We do play a couple nights a week, but a year? Seems too soon.

I looked at the power tubes, and they seems to be looking OK. No obvious weird colors or extra glow going on. Can't really see the preamp tubes.

Thoughts? I still have older tubes. I replaced them out of being anal about my sound, not because they were going bad, so they should still work. Does it sound like something more critical? Anything I should be worried about?

Comment

It's most likely a preamp tube. Then can fail unexpectedly. Is it a Recto? I would try V3 first. That one always gives me trouble. Certain positions can be hard on preamp tubes, and some brands are less recommended in those positions (like EHX) because of their design. Try some swapping and you'll most likely fix the problem.

Comment

Couple of nights a week for a year is a bit. What kind of amp and how hard (volume) you pushing it?

http://www.youtube.com/user/primeholy

Originally Posted by decode6

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Originally Posted by Arpanoid

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Originally Posted by eudaimonia02912

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Comment

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I was meditating on the finer things of life and then I realized that PrimeHoly is the god of this forum. For real. no troll.

Originally Posted by eudaimonia02912

Just think: There must be thread ideas that pop in Charveldan's head, but which, after some thought, he rejects and decides not to post. Imagine how bizarre those ideas must be, if they don't even meet Charveldan's standards.

Comment

I had this happen in my Hydra last week. It was V4 in the end, but I don't know what the mesa circuit is like. I would say you should swap pre-amp tubes until you find the culprit, as previously suggested.

Comment

Did it fix itself? was it sporadic or just a drop, If it is sporadic, It can be a dirty effects loop. I have had it happen a couple of times on my stiletto, It just took a bit of contact cleaner on the cables and inserted them in and out a few times and all was OK? just fyi

Comment

Volume: Hmm. It varies. Its never near the top, but we play in a medium sized rehearsal studio, and occasionally the booze conspires against us and we play louder than we should in that size room. Say half-mast. The gain is pretty much cranked all the time. Also, I suspect that other people in the room occasionally use my amp.

The amp didn't fix itself. I turned it off for a while, then gave it another go, and it still had the same issue.

Seems like everybody thinks its a tube issue, which makes me feel better, although I was already starting to justify shopping for a new amp...

Comment

Turn the gain down dude. Seriously. 5 or 6 should be enough gain with that amp for just about everything. Boost the front end with an OD pedal for more tighness and saturation. Having the gain on 10 all the time will eat up the tubes a little faster.